‘Journal’
April 24, 2011: Kathmandu, Nepal
Kath Mandu Valley used to be a lake, fed by the run-off snowmelt from the Himayalas. The story is that Manjushri cut a gorge into the mountains surrounding Kathmandu, and this drained the lake and made Kathmandu rich in crops. Geologists have discovered that the water in Kathmandu drains into a sharply drawn southwest gorge called Chobbar,… Continue Reading »
April 22, 2011: Khajuraho, India “A First-Hand Account of the Appearance of the Goddess (Fifth Hymn to Saraswati”
She is a river, a mother, a dancer, from her throat hangs pearls and bells, her wide fisheyes, hair tapering into a fin, her fingers like the curling petals of a lotus, applying collyrium to her eyelids and lashes with a mirror she holds between her and the sun, wringing water from her hair after a… Continue Reading »
April 21, 2011: Varanasi, India
A young girl, barely a teenager, lifts her hand to me. I look at her and shake my head—no, sorry. She is carrying a baby, and I look down and realize that the baby is dead. She is carrying a lifeless baby. I am in Varanasi, where people come to cremate their dead. I ask… Continue Reading »
April 21, 2011: Varanasi, India “Returned to Ash”
Returned to Ash Banaras (Varanasi) is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.—Mark Twain I have closed my store and come to the Holy City. I’ve walked under the yellow bulbs leading to the burning ghats, worked my way down curving stone alleyways… Continue Reading »
April 20, 2011: Varanasi, India
Returning from the Ganges after the evening ritual, I work my way through the crowd and am accosted by a young boy selling postcards. I assure him I have no money, which is true. Most thefts occur in the crowds on the way to the ghats. After I pass he says, “Nice hair.” I turn… Continue Reading »
April 20, 2011: Varanasi, India
It isn’t what it is. It’s never what it is. Continue Reading »
April 20, 2011, Veranasi, Indian “Metonymy”
Metonymy Part of you knows it can’t be otherwise and yet it’s not enough, driven forward by fate and chance and worse than that, subject (apparently mostly others) to unluck. This is just what happens, everything eventually wears out, destroyed by weather and time, falling down all around us, we cannot get away from destruction…. Continue Reading »
April 19, 2011: “The moon has become a strip of light that slips down / and out the door”
The moon has become a strip of light that slips down and out the door. When your thoughts are as dark as Erebus, consider this: Night is almost over. Continue Reading »
April 19, 2011: “Fourth Hymn to Saraswati”
Fourth Hymn to Saraswati Impenetrable, by word and thought unemcompassed, all and everything as itself for ever and ever, amen. Continue Reading »
April 19, 2011: Jaipur, India
The Maharajah died as we arrived in Jaipur. Everything in the whole state will be shut down for two days, so we left as a group to see the funeral parade in the center of the city. While we were taking photos of the parade, two teenage boys began to mock us by jumping around to take… Continue Reading »